Belly Dancers Suing Pirate Festival for Money Owed
If an agreement with Port Washington Festivals is not reached the group might not perform at this year's Pirate festival.
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Belly dancers might not make it to the annual Pirate Festival if organizers don't pay up.
Rakhshanda Tribal Belly Dance LLC has sued Port Washington Festivals Inc. for an unpaid balance of the $700 for their performance at the 2012 festival, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The initial check that was given to the dance group bounced.
The attorney for the group said the belly dance group may return to this year's festival if something is worked out.
Port Washington Pirate Festival has hit rocky waters with city officials and vendors. Earlier this week, city officials said event organizer Kim McCulloch has not complied with a number of city requests and deadlines meant to coordinate efforts between her and the city as well as avoid problems from past years.
Also, the belly dancers aren't the only vendors who haven't been paid. The festival has a number of outstanding bills owed to vendors, and the city is upset by the number of calls its received from those parties hoping to be paid; many people don't understand the city isn't actually in charge of the event.
The disagreements between city officials and McCulloch have caused some to wonder whether the festival will even go on, but the Port Washington Pirate Festival Facebook page is already promoting this year's June 7-9 dates.
Patsy S
2:37 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013
It's such a shame that this happened. Rakhshanda has got to be a huge draw for Pirate Fest (as appears by the number of people who go to see them perform) and they are super talented. With the amount of work they do at the festival, they seem WAY under paid! They should be making twice that much, at least. Let's hope they get paid eventually. Seems they gave Pirate Fest ample time to pay. Looks as though they waited ~6mos to file suit. This was obviously a last resort to attempt to recover the money for which they worked and should have been paid from the beginning. They definitely did the right thing. So, come on Pirate Fest! PAY UP!
Adam Brown
8:05 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
If the city is not willing to support bringing revenue through venues like this, they have bigger problems. The city should work with pirate fest to get it heading in the right direction. its about economics...can't imagine the city turning down money. The community is trying.
scott hiser
11:42 am on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The city wont do business with her anymore. I don't blame them. Kim McCulloch talked to me last year about bringing are cannons and doing demonstrations. She was gonna pay us for our Lodging and powder. Right after that someone warned me not to believe her. Damn her for cheatin people!